The first British soldier to land in occupied France during the D-day landings, who heroically leapt from a plane along with 200 dummy parachutists, with a carrier pigeon strapped to his chest, has died aged 95.
Norman Poole, a former SAS lieutenant rarely spoke about his exploits when his six-man team landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944, and his family said they were unaware of the extent of his military achievements.
Poole landed with the dummy parachutists and sent the pigeon back to Britain with vital details about the German war effort. The contents of the message were never made public.
After spending six weeks behind enemy lines, he was captured by German troops, before eventually being liberated. He was later awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
“I didn’t realise he was such a hero,” said his nephew David Barnes. “I knew that my uncle and my father were involved in the war but they never really spoke about it a great deal. I guess that is typical of their generation sometimes – not to mention what happened.”
“I didn’t realise he was the first to land on D-day. I only found out last week after my uncle died.”
Poole’s daughter Alison Dale told the Daily Mail: “My father was terribly private about all of this, as he had such a grotty time.
“He did open up a little bit more as we got older. But when we were growing up, if we had ever told anyone anything, he couldn’t take it. He had to be private.”
Thousands of Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944 to launch Operation Overlord, the huge military effort that marked the beginning of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe during the second world war. It was the largest seaborne invasion ever launched.
Poole died in Portishead, near Bristol, where he had spent much of his life with his wife, Elisabeth. The father of two daughters was long retired as a bank manager with NatWest and had been a widower for four years.
“I used to go and stay with him when I was a boy, and I remember him as a really joyful man who was full of life. He was always happy and never seemed to have a care in the world. He was always smiling,” said Barnes.
“You wouldn’t think of him as being a rugged para, because he simply did not speak about what happened.”
A funeral service will be held for Poole in Bristol later this month.
